Bruja (21 page)

“Yes. That’s usually what happens when I shift.” I would’ve had to be deaf to miss the humor in his voice.

“I just… Where are your clothes?”

The fey clacked his tongue. “Little tasty is a prude.”

The nerve of that little…
“I’m not a prude!” But I still didn’t lower my hand.

Well, maybe I was a little bit, but I didn’t need to hear it from him.

“I’ll shift back in a bit,” Lucas said before addressing the fey. “What’s your name, fey one?”

“I don’t share my name.” His words were so haughty, I almost lowered my hand. I was sure he was making some sort of awful face.

He was smart, though. If words had power, names were infinitely stronger. I’d read that true names were precious things among the fey. It could make one become a slave to another.

“Then what shall I call you?” Lucas asked.

“Gobble.”

I couldn’t suppress a wince. That was both creepy and appropriate.

“Fine. Gobble. Why did you take her from me?”

“She seemed tasty.”

“Enough with the tasty thing.” It gave me the creepy-crawlies.

“She’s not food and you know it. She was under my protection.” Lucas’ growl echoed across the mountain. “Or are you willingly and knowingly violating our pact?”

Pact? The wolves and fey had a pact?

“No! I didn’t break a pact! I didn’t know she was your mate.”

“You did and you took her from me. If you don’t leave us be, the pack will bring this matter to your prince.”

Gobble sputtered words in a language I didn’t know. It favored voiceless dental fricative and sibilant sounds. When he finally started speaking English again, his voice was wheedling. “She said you were looking for the mages. They’ve not been here in many years, but I remember where they were. I can help along the way.”

I doubted his intentions were anything but selfish, but if he had the gift of travel… “We might need him.”

“Take us there directly if you’re so eager to help.” Lucas’ words were half growl.

“Lazy wolf. You must do some of it on your own.”

“Her brother is dying. Time is something we don’t have.”

“Then it’s good that I can keep you from getting lost.”

Lucas growled again. “I’m going to shift, Claudia. You can take your hand down in a second, but don’t stray far from me. Understand?”

“I didn’t stray in the first place,” I muttered the words, not that Lucas would appreciate the distinction.

Something brushed against my legs and I lowered my hand. Lucas stood in front of me in his wolf form, speckled black and brown. Maybe I should’ve been cautious, but he looked so soft. Before I could stop myself, I was brushing my fingers through his fur.

I knew that wolves didn’t purr, but Lucas came close, making a deep rumbling sound at the back of his throat.

As we walked back to our campsite, Gobble flitted around us in his little pixie form. I couldn’t stop thinking about Gobble identifying me as Lucas’ mate. I hadn’t let myself think about it too much, but what did that really mean? Was I really considering turning?

If I didn’t, what would that mean for Lucas? Would he end up being like Muraco? Alone for centuries because his mate chose not to risk being bitten? Could I do that to him?

Did I even want to be mated to a wolf in the first place? It was a serious decision that needed a lot of thought. Mates didn’t divorce, as far as I knew. It was a serious commitment and if the mess with Matt had proven anything to me it was that rushing in didn’t work.

Then again, comparing Matt and Lucas was impossible. They didn’t compare. Not in any way. I trusted Lucas.

But was I ready to commit to more than that?

Lost in my thoughts, I almost tripped over a root, but Lucas was there before I could fall, pushing against me with his fur.

“Thanks.” I brushed a hand against his head and he made a rumbling noise. I didn’t speak wolf, but I could guess what he meant. “I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

It was way more complicated than I could handle right now. The long day of hiking through the mountain, the stress of worrying over Raphael, and now this fey kidnapping added up to a whole bunch of exhaustion.

When we got back to the tent, I crawled straight inside. There was a blanket, and I spread it over my body, not caring about changing. Lucas butted inside in his wolf form, and settled down half on top of me. He rested his head on my stomach.

I knew that this wasn’t a big dog—that it was Lucas—but my brain was too tired to register it or care anymore. I scratched behind his ears and closed my eyes.

“Good boy,” I said, as I fell asleep.

I felt a wet lick against my cheek just before darkness took hold of me, but I couldn’t move enough to do anything about it if I wanted to.

Chapter Nineteen

I woke to the sound of Lucas’s voice. The sun was just breaking over the horizon. Rays of sunlight cut through the leaves, making it seem like God was shining light down on the mountain. My back ached from sleeping on the hard ground and I wished there were a hot shower in my future, but that wasn’t happening. Probably not until I was back with Raphael.

That thought jolted me all the rest of the way awake.

No time to waste. I threw off the blanket and got up. I didn’t remember taking off my shoes, but they were lined up in front of the tent. I slipped them on and double knotted the laces.

“Ready to go?” I asked.

Lucas nodded. “I’ll pack our gear.” He handed me a protein bar as he brushed past. His fingers lingered on mine for a just a second before he started folding up the tent.

He was always doing that. Giving me lingering touches. More and more. I watched his back as he moved, enjoying the view a little. I quickly ran my fingers through my hair before redoing my braid, and then dug into the protein bar.

The crumbly texture made me thirsty. I grabbed a water bottle from the side pocket of Lucas’ pack, and took a long drink. “It’s cold.”

“I went to the falls to fill up. They’re not far.”

I nodded, but my stomach soured. What about parasites? If I got some kind of worm from this… I stared down at the bottle in disgust.

He chuckled. “Don’t worry, city girl. I cleaned the water. It’s safe to drink.”

Easy for him to say. “I didn’t grow up in the city, but we had clean, running water.” I took another careful sip, then almost gasped when it hit my tongue. It might be the best tasting water I’d ever had.

I quickly inhaled the rest of the protein bar and drank some more water before putting the bottle away. I stretched, and my ribs still ached. It was bearable, but if I thought about it too much—about Matt—the anger would overwhelm me.

Gobble had shifted back in his tiny form and he sat in the tree above the tent, watching us move around. It made me nervous when he stayed quiet like that.

The sound of Lucas zipping up the backpack caught my attention. “All right. Let’s go,” he said as he slipped the first one on his back. “The mine is this way.” He slipped the other one across his chest and started walking.

Gobble flitted down from the tree and settled on my shoulder. The image of tiny little teeth tearing into my ear raced across my mind, and I stiffened.

Lucas spun toward me. “Why are you—” He didn’t have to finish his question. “Get off of her. She doesn’t like you sitting there.”

“Sure the tasty does.” His tiny voice screeched in my ear.

Lucas’ eyes flashed bright. “And she doesn’t like you calling her the tasty,” he said, with a low rumble in his voice.

They started arguing back and forth as we walked.

The day had just begun and I was already getting a headache.

***

Lucas had been dead on when he said it would take two hours to get to the mine. We stopped for a rest when we arrived. Weeds and branches covered up most of the entrance, blocking it from view. Without the map to tell us where to stop, we might’ve walked by it a million times and never seen it. It was too dark to see all the way inside, but a set of rusted and broken cart tracks ended at what looked like the mouth of a very long cave.

Lucas reached into his bag, grabbing out two flashlights. I took one, thankful for it. I hadn’t thought to bring one. It was rare that I found someone more prepared than I was. I kind of admired that quality in Lucas. It was nice.

As we stepped inside, the air grew thick and heavy. It smelled stale and earthy, like no one had entered in a good long while. Spider webs ran down from the corners of the braced walls, and I moved to walk behind Lucas.

He glanced back to me. “Don’t like spiders, huh?”

“Does anyone like them?”

Gobble flew in front of my face. “I like them just fine. Tasty,” he squeaked.

“Right.” That didn’t surprise me in the least.

One of the branches off this mineshaft exited to a secret valley between the mountains, but I had no idea which part or how we were supposed to find the right path. The map didn’t show anything about the inside of the mine. My only lead was magic. The mages’ auras had stuck to the map. If they’d used the mine to access their temple, then it stood to reason that there would be more traces of pure white to follow. I just had to find them.

We moved past a line of five rickety mine carts. The metal bits were rusted and the wood looked like it might disintegrate if we breathed too hard.

“Hop in,” Lucas said when he reached the last one.

I stared from him to the cart and back again. “In that?”

“Yes.” When I didn’t move, he continued. “It’ll be faster. You just tell me when you see the aura you’re looking for, and we’ll head that way.”

I knocked my fist against the side of the car. It didn’t collapse, but I still wasn’t convinced. “Is this safe?”

Lucas blew out a breath. “Honestly, I’m not sure.” He placed the backpacks in the cart before hopping in with one graceful move.

Yeah. I wasn’t going to be able to get in it without making a fool of myself.

“There are miles of tunnels down here. We’ve got to narrow it down or it could take days.”

I closed my eyes and thought of Raphael. Every time I did, he felt father away. Our twindar used to bind us tight. If he was hurt or feeling something strongly, I could feel it, too. That had faded over the past few days and I didn’t think it was because of the distance. Now, my sense of him was almost gone. Thinking about what could happen to him made stabbing pain shoot through my chest.

“Fine,” I said. “Let’s get this over with.”

Lucas leaned down to grasp me around the waist, and then easily lifted me into the cart. It shouldn’t have been a surprise or anything to overreact to, but it made me feel safe. Protected. Even in this rickety thing.

Gobble flitted over to sit on my shoulder, but this time I didn’t stiffen. I was too worried about what was going to happen as Lucas started pumping the lever on the car. Slowly, we all rolled forward.

“Let me know as soon as you want to stop or if we need to take a turn.” Ahead of us, the tunnel split in three directions. “Like now. Which way?” Lucas asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Come on, Claudia. Which way?”

“I don’t know. Gobble? Do you know?”

“You want Gobble’s help?” He flitted in front of me to grin with those sharp teeth and I suddenly felt hesitant. From what Cosette said, I shouldn’t make a deal with him. Not unless I really, really, really needed it. I wasn’t that desperate. Not yet, at least.

“You can do this, Claudia. Trust yourself.”

But I didn’t. I couldn’t see any auras at all. It was all darkness ahead.

I moved the flashlight around, trying to see anything else, and then I realized I was an idiot. I couldn’t see anything past the beam of light.

I clicked it off. Once the glare was gone, I could see a faint glow somewhere ahead. “To the right.” I clicked the flashlight back on, and Lucas hit the lever for the right tunnel.

“Good work.”

I breathed out a sigh. “Thanks.”

The next hour was more of the same. We moved from tunnel to tunnel, taking twists and turns. Then our cart started picking up speed as we went down a hill.

We hit a bump and gained some air. My feet landed on the cart floor with a jarring thud. “Slow it down. You’re going too fast.”

“I know,” Lucas said.

A dip was coming up ahead of us—at least I hoped it was a dip. The closer we got, it looked like it was more drop-off than dip. I couldn’t see any tracks beyond it.

Oh my God. The tracks were ending. We were going to fall. And who knew how far down we’d fall. It could be miles.

We could die.

I grabbed Lucas’ arm. “Lucas.”

“I see it.”

“See what? The tracks freaking disappear!” My fingers dug into his skin. “Lucas! Stop the car. Now. Right now. We’re going too fast and that dip is way too sharp. We’ll fly off the track.”

“I know. The brake is broken, and we’re going too fast to jump.”

A cold sweat broke out across my brow. “You didn’t check the brake?” Why hadn’t
I
thought to check the brake?

“No. I didn’t check the brake.”

We sped closer and I finally got a good look. The dark spot ahead was a giant cave. The tracks ended over the yawning hole. “Oh my God. We’re going to die.” I griped him tighter, bracing for whatever impact we were headed for.

Gobble screeched and dug his nails into my shoulder. Then he let go, flitting off. Leaving us both to our fate.

I huddled down in the bottom of the cart, hoping for something to hold on to, but there was nothing.

“Hold on to me.” Lucas threw his body over mine, as we fell down. I wrapped my arms and legs around him as I screamed so loud my throat ached. And then I screamed some more.

It felt like we fell forever before we hit the ground. Somehow Lucas timed it, exchanging our positions so I landed on top of him. He grunted as we hit the bottom of the cave, but he didn’t make another noise.

Our breaths still came fast as the cart slowed down. But we were alive.

I pulled back enough to see Lucas’ face. “Are you okay?” I asked as I cupped his cheek in my hand.

Lucas leaned into my touch. “I’ve survived much worse,” he said as he wrapped my braid around his hand, and then raised his mouth to meet mine.